Yarn and fabric



Jan. 10, 1939. w H PORTER ET AL 2,143,574

' YARN AND FABRIC Filed nec. 15, 1957 Patented Jan. 10, 1939 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE YARN AND FABRIC William H.

Porter, Moylan-Rose Valley, and

Application December 15, 1937, Serial No. 180,026

23 Claims.

The invention relates to pile fabrics, to pile yarn for pile fabrics andto artificial staple fiber for such pile yarn. The present applicationis a continuation in part of our application Serial No. 131,786, ledMarch 19, 1937, for Fiber, yarn and fabric.

A purpose of the invention is to produce artificial staple fiber `ofaverage filament cross section between 1000 and 5000 square microns(millionths of a meter) and of column-like cross section for making pileyarn for pile fabrics.

A further purpose is to produce pile yarn for pile fabrics. containingartificial staple fiber of average filament cross section between 1000and 5000 square microns and having desirable properties both for floorcoverings and upholstery fabrics.

A further purpose is to produce artificial staple ber having an averagefilament cross section between 1000 and 5000 square microns and having aminimum cross-sectional dimension at least 40% (preferably at least 60%and most desirably at least 80%) of the maximum cross-sectionaldimension, so that the fiber can function as a column in a pile fabric,with adequate stiffness and resilience and Without the exaggeratedtendency to curl or cork-screw which exists when the minimumcross-sectional dimension is much less than the maximum.

A further purpose is to produce an artificial pile yarn for floorcovering such as rugs and carpets which has the desirable properties ofhigh resilience, resistance to crushing, resistance to wear, ability toshed dirt, and ease in cleaning by ordinary household cleaningprocedure.

A further purpose is to produce artificial pile yarn for floor coveringswhich is equal in its general properties to carpet Wool, and superior towool in being mothproof.

A further purpose is to obtain unusual effects in pile fabrics by usingan artificial pile yarn which v has high brilliancy, simulating WashedAmerican holstery cloth, using a pile yarn containing artificial staplefiber of between 1000 and 5000 square microns average cross section,capable of 5 functioning as a column, having high wear resistance, highresistance to crushing, good cleanability, being'moth-proof andexhibiting unusual dyeing effects.

Further purposes appear in the specification 10 and in the claims.

In so far as the drawing shows particular cross sectional contours, or aparticular yarn or a particular weave of floor covering. or ofupholstery fabric, they are intended to be con- 15 ventional. v

Figures l, la, 2, 2a, 3 and 3a illustrate cross sections of typicalartificial staple fibers which may be employed in the yarns and fabricsof the present invention.

Figure 4 illustrates in perspective a yarn embodying the presentinvention.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of a floor covering embodyingfeatures of the invention.

Figure 6 "is a longitudinal sectional perspective of an upholsteryfabric embodying features of the invention. n In the drawing likenumerals refer to like parts. The prior art practice has been to makethe pile yarn of pile fabrics intended for floor coverings almostentirely of carpet wool because no other fiber has been found which issatisfactory as a substitute. Of all textile fabrics, carpets areprobably subjected to the roughest usage, 'I'he only wool suitable forthe major 35 constituents oi the pile yarn in floor coverings are thoseobtained from China, India, South America, Southeastern Europe and partsof Great Britain, which are characterized by stiffness and coarsetexture, possess the necessary resilience to resist crushing and havethe required wear resisting properties. Since, under the climaticconditions in North America, wool does not develop the necessarycoarseness and stiffness, carpet wool is not produced in the UnitedStates and foreign carpet wool for floor coverings is admitted free ofduty.

The American rug or carpet manufacturer must maintain a. high inventory(about three months supply) and inventory losses with iiuctuations inmarket are very heavy. In addition, the required investments ininventory and foreign shipments are extremely heavy. The above factors,plus the definitely limited world supply of carpet wool, make the marketfor this material extremely unstable and unsatisfactory from thestandpoint of the manufacturer of oor coverings.

The increase in automobile production has caused great expansion in thedemand for upholstery fabrics. Many of such fabrics are sub- Jected toalmost as much abuse as oor coverings. In the upholstery fabric eld, thedimculties due to uctuation'in the market for raw materials, heavyinvestment and limited supply, are comparable with those of the floorcovering eld. Examplesof upholstery fabrics are plush, velvet, tapestry,upholstery cloth.

The-present inventors have discovered a raw material for pile yarn forpile fabrics, such as oor vcoverings and upholstery fabrics, which maybe manufactured in -indenite quantities in any part of the world, ischeaper than carpet wool, and has certain denite advantages over carpetwool, especially over the cheaper grades of carpet wool. The rawmaterial of the present invention is an articial staple ber havingproperties especially suiting it to the pile yarn of pile fabrics.

The articial staple ber of the present invention is manufactured fromthe raw material now used in making rayon, with suitable change in thespinneret orice, speed of extrusion and solution concentration. Whilethe artificial staple ber may be made by any one of a number ofprocesses, including processes which may be developed in the future, theexperiments up to the present time indicate that the cuprammonium andviscose processes are preferable. Cellulose ether or nitrocellulose maybe used. Cellulose esters such as cellulose acetate are not particularlyrecommended lbecause of their peculiar dyeing characteristicsand'present high relative cost.

A very important feature of the present invention is the use of anaverage lament cross section ranging between 1000 and 5000 Squaremicrons (millionths of a meter). The preferable average lament crosssection is 1000 to 2200 square microns, and the best average crosssection is 1450 to 1800 square microns. In determining the averagelament cross section, at least cross sections selected by an approvedsampling method should be measured and an average taken. For adiscussion of testing lament neness, see American Society for TestingMaterials, Tentative Methods of Test for Fineness of Wool, D419-35T.

The present inventors have discovered that articial laments of averagefilament cross section between 1000 and 5000 square microns, when cutinto staple ber and spun into thread, have unexpected desirablepropertiesf for pile Since the pile must act structurally as a series ofcolumns to support the load applied to it, the ber cross section must bethat of a column, with the maximum and minimum cross-sectional diverymuch less than the maximum, as in bers whose cross sections are 10 x 70microns or 10 x 200 microns, stiiness and resilience are lacking, and amarked tendency to curl or cork-screw exists, rendering such bersunsuitable for use as a major constituent of a pile. In order for theber to possess resilience (not be mushy), it must have, in alldirections from its longitudinal axis, elements in compression on oneside of the column and in tension on the other side, at a sufficientdistance from the axis to exert a powerful tendency to straighten thecolumn, once it has deformed under load.

Desirable bers according to the present invention might have maximum andminimum crosssectional dimensions of 50 x 40 microns, 40 x 45 microns,45 x 40 microns, 60 x 45 microns, etc'.

Where the ber minimum cross-sectional dimension is much less than themaximum, the ber not only curls laterally, but, when the ber is twistedinto yarn, the effect of the twist is to produce a cork-screwconfiguration about the axis of the individual ber (as distinguishedfrom the axis of the yam) likely to cause dust pick-up.

' A fiber whose maximum and minimum cross-sectional dimensions are closetogether as explained above may be twisted even into a hard twist yarnwithout exhibiting much tendency to form cork-screws about theindividual ber axes.

Manufacturers of pile yarn for upholstery fabrics are familiar with theuse of rayon staple ber of the heretofore conventional average crosssection of about 380 square microns, which has been specified inautomobile upholstery fabrics, for example, to limits of less than 33%.Such prior art rayon, when crushed, packs, does not resiliently regainits shape, and is not comparable with wool or mohair in wearingqualities. Due to its packing and to the property of ready adherence todirt which it possesses, it has been found that a fabric having suchprior art rayon as a major constituent of its pile yarn, cannot becleaned by ordinary household methods like the vacuum cleaner, sweepingand beating. The feel of this prior art artificial staple ber is mushyfrom the standpoint of the manufacturer of oor coverings and upholsteryfabrics.

The artificial staple ber employed in the present invention, ranging inaverage cross section between 1000 and 5000 square microns (preferablybetween 1000 and 2200 square microns and most desirably between 1450 and1800 square microns), and of column-like cross section, has distinctlydierent properties from the prior art articial staple ber. The articialstaple ber of the present invention is comparable in resilience withcarpet wool. rm, and quite similar to carpet wool or to mohair. Ifcompressed it regains its shape to a degree closely approaching carpetwool of comparable ber diameter. This insures absence of packing,permitting cleaning of a pile fabric manufactured from pileyarncontaining as a major constitutent the articial staple ber of thepresent invention, by ordinary household methods, such as the vacuumcleaner, sweeping and beating.

Experimental carpets have been made having a large area of the pileconsisting of carpet wool and another large area of the pile consistingof 75% of the artificial staple ber of the present invention and 25% ofcarpet wool. The two areas of the pile have been so closely similar thatexperienced wool graders could not tell them apart by feel, resilienceor stiffness.

Experiments made upon pile fabrics using the artificial staple ber ofthe present invention as a. major constituent of the pile yarn, indicatewear resistance practically equal to that of the best natural bers orblends thereof as usual in oor coverings or upholstery pile fabrics,thus In feel it is stiff and offering the possibility of manufacturingfloor coverings and upholstery fabrics using` a pile yarn consistingentirely of the staple fiber of the present invention or of the staplefiber' of the present invention blended with some other natural orartificial ber.

In making up the pile yarn in accordance with the present invention,rayon is extruded in such a manner as to produce an average crosssection in the finished filament of between 1000 and 5000 squaremicrons, both inclusive. 'I'he preferred average filament cross sectionis between 1000 and 2200 square microns, best results being obtainedwith an average filament cross section between 1450 and 1800 squaremicrons. The filament cross section should be close enough to generalroundness (without considering the crosssectional contour in detail) sothat the minimum cross sectional dimension is at least 40% (preferablyat least 60% and most desirable at least 80%) of the maximumcross-sectional dimension at a. given point. Figures 1 to 3a inclusiveshow at fiber suitable for use in the pile yarns and pile fabrics of thepresent invention.

The extruded filament is cut into staple fiber of suitable length,ranging for example from 1/2 to 10 inches in the ordinary case, althoughin exceptional cases being as long as 12 or even 14 inches. Of coursethe cutting into lengths for staple ber is in itself well known. Forconvenient spinning in blended yarn the length of the artificial staplefiber should be comparable with that of the natural or artificial fiberwith which the blending is being accomplished. 'I'he preferred length offiber is 4 to 5 inches, espe-` cially when blending with carpet wool onthe woolen system nf spinning.

The only raw material which is necessarily used in making the pile yarnof the present invention is the artificial staple fiber just described.Any conventional spinning procedure may be adopted in preparing amultiple filament pile yarn from the artificial staple fiber of thepresent invention. The number of filaments in a thread cross section isof course variable, in ordinary practice perhaps 50 to 100 being a usualfigure for the pile yarn of the present invention.

In the preliminary steps to spinning, economies may be effected ascompared with the spinning of carpet wool because the artificial stapleiiber when manufactured is free from dirt and therefore little or noloss is involved in processing.

When spun on the woclen system, the artificialstaple fiber of thepresent invention, alone or blended as explained below, is prepared bypicking, is lubricated'in accordance with the usual practice for wool,is carded'to produce roving ends, and is spun on woolen mules or woolenspinning frames, using any suitable number of twists (for example 1 to75 to an inch, 5 to 50 being usual practice), and using any desirednumber of plies. Figure 4 shows pile yarn 2l consisting of a suitablenumber of plies 22, 23 and 24.

Any other spinning system may be used, for example the cotton, worsted,flax, silk, or jute system may be employed without substantialmodification, instead of the woolen system.

The pile yarn may comprise 100% of the artificial staple fiber of thepresent invention. At the other extreme, as little as 20% of theartificial staple fiber of the present invention may be used withsuitable blending fiber as later explained. If less than 20% of theartificial staple fiber of the present invention is employed, the

A house-furnishing fabric in accordance with l the present invention isa floor covering fabric or an upholstery fabric or the like. This termis intended to apply to such fabrics, whether used in buildings,automobiles, airplanes, etc. The term house-furnishing fabric applies torugs, carpets, furniture coverings, interior fittings; hangings,curtains, cushions and the like. Housefurnishing pile fabrics aresubject to special conditions not only in respect to the loads placed onthe piles and the resilience required, but also in respect to theinfrequency of washing and the necessity of cleaning by sweeping,brushing, beating, and the vacuum cleaner.

For iioor coverings, from 20% to 100% of the artificial staple fiber ofthe present invention may be blended with from 80% to 0% of animal,vegetable or synthetic fibers.

For best results said other fibers should be of a stiffness and hardnessof feel comparable with that of carpet wool in case they be used inquantities greater than 15%. it is preferredY to blend the artificialstaple fiber of the present invention with from 80% to 0% of a naturalfiber of coarse texture such as carpet wool, mohair or other equivalentnatural coarse fiber. In fioor coverings as much as 10% or even 15% offine fiber having a cross sectional area of less than 400 squaremicrons, such as fine mohair, fine wool, prior art iine (380 squaremicron) rayon or the equivalent may be blended with the artificialstaple fiber of the present invention and the stiff animal, vegetable orsynthetic fiber, the fine mohair, ne wool or prior art fine rayonimparting spinnability to the blended fiber. More than this quantity offine fiber serves to substantially increase the dirt pick-up by the yarnand fabric.

More than 15% of fiber finer than 400 square microns cross section andof whatever nature may be used in a blend for a floor covering pile yarnwhere there is no objection to substantially increasing the dirt pick-upby the yarn and fabric, as for example cheap floor coverings'made from ablend containing animal, vegetable or synthetic shoddy.

In the preferred pile yarn of the present in- Ventionfor fioorcoverings, from 50% to 100% of 1000 to 5000 square micron (preferably1000 to 2200 square micron and best 1450 to 1800 square micron)artificial staple ber of column-like cross section, from 50% to 0% ofstiff animal, vegetable or synthetic fiber and from 15% to 0% of finemohair, fine wool, prior art fine rayon or the equivalent will beemployed. A pile yarn which for many purposes is equally good for iioorcoverings can be made .from 100% of the j artificial staple fiber of thepresent invention and a pile yarn which is substantially more spinnablecan be made from 85% to 90% of the artificial staple ber of the presentinvention and 10% to 15% of fine mohair, ne wool, prior art fine rayonor the equivalent.

In floor coverings, more than 10% or 15% of prior art fine fiber havinga cross sectional area of 400 square microns or less, such as fine (380square micron) rayon or other comparable vegetable fiber causes -thefabric to pick up dirt excessively and renders it difiicult orimpossible to clean by ordinary household methods.

A floor covering fabric is shown in Figure 5,

.of any suitable weave, having a backing 25 and For iioor coverings,

tufts of pile yarn 26 embodying the features of the present invention.

For upholstery fabrics, from 20% to 100% of the articial staple ber ofthe present in- 5 y'vention may be blended with from 80% to 0% of otheranimal, vegetable or synthetic bers.

For best results said other bers should be of a stiffness and hardnessof feel comparable with mohair arid/or other animal bers of a comparablenature in case they be used in quantities greater than 33%. Forupholstery fabrics, it is preferred to blend the articial staple ber ofthe present invention with from 80% to 0% of a natural ber of coarsetexture such as mohair or other equivalent natural coarse ber. Inupholstery fabrics as much as 33% of ne ber having a cross sectionalarea of 400 square microns or less, such as ne mohair, ne wool, priorart ne (380 square micron) rayon or the equivalent may be blended withthe articial staple ber of the present invention and the stiff animal,vegetable or synthetic ber, the ne mohair, ne wool, or prior art nerayon imparting spinnability to the blended ber. More than this quantityof ne ber serves to substantially increase the dirt pick-up by the yarnand fabric.

More than 33% of ber finer than 400 square microns cross section and ofwhatever nature may be used in a blend for an upholstery fabric pileyarn where there is no objection to substantially increasing the dirtpick-up by the yarn and fabric, as for example cheap upholstery fabricsmade from a blend containing animal, vegetable or synthetic ber.

For upholstery fabric the preferred pile yarn of the present inventionwill contain 50% to 100% of 1000 to 5000 square micron (preferably 1000to 2200 square micron and best 1450 to 1800 square micron) articialstaple ber, from 50% to 0% of sti animal, vegetable or synthetic ber andfrom 33% to 0% of ne mohair, ne wool, prior art ne rayon or theequivalent. A pile yarn which for many purposes is equally good forupholstery fabrics can be made from 100% of the articial staple ber ofthe present invention and a pile yarn ,which is slightly more spnnablecan be made from 67% of the articial staple ber of the present inventionand 33% of ne mohair, ne wool, prior art ne rayon or the equivalent. Anydesired amount of the ne ber less than 33% may be used in pile yarn forupholstery fabrics.

For upholstery fabrics more than 33% of prior art ne (380 square micronor ner) rayon causes the fabric to pick up dirt and renders it dilcultor impossible to clean by ordinary methods.

An upholstery fabric is shown in `Figure. 6, of

any suitable weave, having a backing 21 and 60 tufts of pile yarn 28embodying the features of the present invention.

The pile yarn of the present invention, when consisting of 100% of thearticial staple ber of the present invention, or of the articial stapleber of the present invention blended with prior art ne rayon, may bedyed with standard rayon dyes. It will be understood of course that thearticial staple ber as initially produced may be either lustrous ordelustered, with or Without delustering subsequent to extrusion. Alustrous staple ber is desirable in many cases, producing brillianteffects in oor coverings which are not obtainable with the ordinarycarpet wools. Where the yarn is blended, with carpet wool for example,the yarn can be dyed uniformly throughout by the use of dyes suited tothe various components, or special color effects can be obtained bycross dyeing. For example, through cross dyeing, the articial staple bermay be given one color and the natural animal ber may be given adistinctly dierent color, or the articial staple ber may take on oneshade and the carpet wool another shade.

A special advantage exists by virtue 'of the fact that the articialstaple ber can be dyed before extrusion, thus eliminating steps in theprocess, and cheapening the product.

By the product of the present invention, it is possible to simulate theeffect of a washed American Oriental rug. This is a high luster fabricproduced from carpet Wool by chemically washing the fabric. In the priorart this has involved added expense for dyeing in order to withstand thechemical washing, required better construction of the fabric, andrepresented an actual loss in weight of wool of about 10% dissolved bythe washing chemicals. The articial staple ber of the present inventionmay be produced with a luster and may be dyed prior to extrusion so thatno loss is involved in obtaining the high luster effect of a washedAmerican Oriental rug.

No deviation need be made from the usual weaving practice in the presentinvention. The pile yarn of the present invention may be used in anytype of pile fabric, whether the pile be cut, uncut or partially cut. Itwill of course be understood that the yarn of the present invention isintended for the pile, and not'intended for the Warp, ller or stuier.

There are two distinct elds of utility for the fabric of the presentinvention. The rst is in oor coverings, such as carpets and rugs, forexample of the Axminster, Wilton and other conventional types. For thisuse, resilience of the pile yarn is a very important requirement toinsure that the pile will not pack. If the pile packs the oor coveringtakes on a worn appearance, dark spots result and the rug or carpetshows irregular areas. Of equal seriousness, where the pile yarn packsit cannot be cleaned by ordinary household methods such as vacuumcleaning, sweeping or beating. The pile yarn of the present inventionhas resilience substantially equal to that of carpet wool pile yarns ofthe prior art. The feel of the pile yarn of the present invention,especially when the cross section is about 1600 square microns, veryclosely approaches the feel of carpet wool.

The features of the invention may be used conjointly with the featuresof the invention of Charles Henry Masland, 2d, claimed in a copendingapplication, Serial No. 147,883, led June 12, 1937.

As to wear resistance, tests made at the United States TestingLaboratories using the Bureau of Standards method indicate that the pileyarn of the present invention has properties as favorable as those ofcarpet Wool. Whereas the wool control resisted 140,000 cycles of wear, aoor covering otherwise identical but having a pile consisting of 80% ofthe articial staple ber of the present invention (1380 square micronaverage lament cross section) blended with 20% of carpet wool resisted148,000 cycles. The pile yarn of the present invention possesses theadvantage over carpetwool of being mothproof.

The other important application of the pile yarn of the presentinvention is to upholstery fabrics such as plushes, velvets, tapestryand upholstery cloth. In this eld the resilience is perhaps not quite sonecessary as in floor coverings, but it is an important factor. The berof the present invention hasl the feel of mohair when the lamentdiameter is about 1400 square microns. In upholstery fabrics Wearresistance and mothproong are very important. The increased of highinventory losses.

When reference is made herein to the columnlike cross section of the berof the present in-` vention, it is intended to indicate that the maximumand minimum cross-sectional dimensions are sufficiently near together toenablethe structure to function as a columnl in a pile fabric. As aguide to this condition, it is recommended that the minimumcross-sectional dimension be at least (preferably at least 60% and mostdesirably at least 80%) of the maximum crosssectional dimension.

It will be evident that pile fabrics may be made by weaving, stitching,hooking, punching, flocking (blowing on an adhesive base) or any othersuitable process.

Where percentages are referred to herein in connection with ber blends,they are of course percentages by Weight in the finished clean yarn.

Where reference is made herein to cross-sectional dimension, it isintended to refer to what would ordinarily be called the diameter in atruly circular cross section.

In view of our invention and disclosure, variations and modications tomeet individual whim or particular need Will doubtless become evident toothers skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of ourinvention Without copying the exact embodiment described, and we,therefore, claim all such in so far as they fall within the reasonablespirit and scope of our invention.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

l. Pile yarn for pile fabrics consisting of staple berv at least 20% ofwhich is articial staple ber having a ber length of 1/2 to 14 inches andan average lament cross section of 1000 to 5000 square microns, theminimum cross-sectional dimension being at least 40% of the maximumcrosssectional dimension.

2. Blended pile yarn for pile fabrics consisting of at least 50% ofarticial staple ber having an average lament cross section of 1000 to5000 square microns, the minimum cross-sectional dimension being atleast 40% of the maximum cross-sectional dimension, and a natural ber.

3. Blended pile yarn for pile fabrics consisting of at least 50% ofrayon articial staple ber having an average lament cross section of 1000to 5000 square microns, the minimum cross-sectional dimension being atleast 40% of the maximum cross-section dimension, a natural ber ofcoarse texture and ne ber to impart spinnability, the quantity of ne berbeing not suicient to substantially increase the dirt pick-up by theyarn.

4. Pile yarn for pile fabrics consisting substantially entirely ofartificial staple ber of average filament cross section between' 1000and 5000 square microns, the minimum cross-sectional dimension being atleast 40% of the maximum cross sectional dimension.

I 5. Pile yarn consisting of a blend of carpet Wool and more than 20% ofarticial staple ber having an average filament cross section of 1000 toZ200 square microns, the minimum cross-sectional dimension being atleast 40% of the maximum cross-sectional dimension.

6. House-furnishing fabric pile yarn containing at least 20% of articialstaple ber having an average lament cross section of 1000 to 5000 squaremicrons, the vminimum cross-sectional dimension being at least 40% ofthe maximum` cross-sectional dimension.

7. Floor-covering pile yarn containing at least 20% of artificial stapleber, the yarn being substantially equal in feel, resilience, resistanceto crushing and resistance to Wear to pile yarn for floor coveringsconsisting entirely of carpet wool.

8. Upholstery fabric pile yarn at least 20% of which is staple ber ofaverage lament cross section from 1000 to 5000 square microns, theminimum cross-sectional dimension being at least 40% of the maximumcross-sectional dimension, having high wear resistance, high resistanceto crushing and good cleanability.

9. A pile fabric whose pile contains in excess of 20% of articial stapleber of average lament cross section of 1000 to 5000 square microns, theminimum cross-sectional dimension being at least 40% of the maximumcross-sectional dimension.

10. A pile fabric whose pile contains articial staple ber of averagelament cross section of 1000 to 5000 square microns, the minimumcrosssectional dimension being at least 40% of the maximumcross-sectional dimension, said articial staple ber being blended withanother ber.

11. A pile fabric whose pile contains articial staple ber of averagelament cross section oi 1000 to 5000 square microns, the minimumcrosssectional dimension beingat least 40% of the maximumcross-sectional dimension, said articial staple ber being blended with anatural ber of comparable coarse texture.

12. A pile fabric whose pile contains articial staple ber of averagelament cross section of 1000 to 5000 square microns, the minimumcrosssectional dimension being at least 40% of the maximumcross-sectional dimension, said articial staple ber being blended with anatural sion being at least 40% of the maximum cross` sectionaldimension.

14. A house furnishing pile fabric Whose pile contains at least 20% ofarticial staple ber of average lament cross section of 1000 to 5000square microns, the minimum cross-sectional dimention being at least 40%of the maximum cross-sectional dimension.

15. A oor covering Whose pile contains at least 20% of articial stapleber of average lament cross section of 1000 to 5000 square microns, theminimum cross-sectional dimension' being at least 40% of the maximumcross-sectional dimension, said oor covering having a feel, resilience,resistance to crushing and resistance to wear substantially equal tothat of a similar fioor covering whose pile is entirely of carpet Wool.

16. An upholstery fabric whose pile contains artificial staple fiber ofaverage filament cross section of 1000 to 5000 square microns, the minimum cross-'sectional dimension being at least 40% of the maximumcross-sectional dimension, having high Wear resistance, high resistanceto crushing and good cleanability.

17. A cross dyed blended pile yarn for pile fabrics, consisting ofartificial staple fiber of average filament cross section of 1000 to5000 square microns, the minimum cross-sectional dimension being atleast 40% of the maximum cross-sectional dimension, and having one coloreffect, and another fiber having another color effect.

18. A `fioor covering whose pile comprises lustrous artificial staplefiber of average cross section of 1000 to 5000 square microns, theminimum cross-sectional dimension being at least 40%` of the maximumVcross-sectional dimension, and the effect simulating that of a washedAmerican Oriental rug.

19. Pile yarn for pile fabrics consisting of staple fiber at least 20%of which is artificial staple fiber having an average filament crosssection of 1000 to 2200 square microns, the minimum cross-sectionaldimension being at least 40% of the maximum cross-sectional dimension.

20. Pile yarn for pile fabrics consisting of staple fiber at least 20%of which is artificial staple iiber having an average filament crosssection of 1450 to 1800 square microns, the minimum cross-sectionaldimension being at least 40% of the maximum cross-sectional dimension.

21. Pile yarn for pile fabrics consisting of staple fiber at least 20%of which is artificial staple fiber having an average filament crosssection of 1450 to 1800 square microns, the minimum cross-sectionaldimension being at least of the maximum cross-sectional dimension.

22. The process of producing pile yarn for house-furnishing fabrics,which comprises spinning into yarn fiber at least 20% of which isartificial staple fiber of average filament cross section of 1000 to5000 square microns, the minimum cross-sectional dimension being atleast 40% of the maximum 'cross-sectional dimension.

23. The process of producing pile yarn for WILLIAM H. PORTER. THOMAS H.BARKER, 2D.

